1. Field of the Invention
The present invention discloses a device and method for detecting analytes in a sample.
2. Description of Related Art
Antibiotics are used for combating infectious diseases, both in humans and in animals. It is well known that misuse of antibiotics such as administration of antibiotics whenever this is not required from a medical point of view or incomplete courses of treatment is the most important cause of the development of antibiotic resistance. Thus, methods for detecting the presence of antibiotics in samples such as e.g. milk, blood, fish, feed, meat, serum, urine, water and the like are of utmost importance in the prevention of the unwanted spread of antibiotics. In many areas, this process of detection can only be performed adequately, if a fast and simple test is available. In general, there are two types of tests suitable for routinely monitoring the presence of antibiotics in samples. Firstly, there are microbial inhibition tests, wherein a test microorganism is contacted with the sample to be tested and the growth (or inhibition of growth) of the microorganism is observed, for instance with the use of an indicator. An example of such a test is described in EP 0 755 456 B1. The major drawback of microbial inhibition tests is that it takes a relatively long time to obtain results.
Secondly, there are competitive immunoassays, wherein the antibiotic to be tested and a reference antibiotic present in the test compete for binding with binding proteins and/or antibodies with affinity for the antibiotics. Visualization is usually done by means of labeling. One of many examples of such a test is described in EP 0 593 112 B1. Although these types of tests are in general faster than microbial inhibition tests, they still require extensive handling by the end user and are therefore not user friendly.
In view of the above, it is clear that there exists considerable room for improvement in the area of antibiotic testing, particularly where it concerns to ease-of -use, speed and convenience.